


younger now (than we were before)

by undercovermockingbird



Category: Avengers (Comics), The Avengers - Ambiguous Fandom
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Bobbi Morse Appreciation Week, F/M, Relationship Study
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-25
Updated: 2014-08-25
Packaged: 2018-02-14 14:57:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 686
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2196099
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/undercovermockingbird/pseuds/undercovermockingbird
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Coffee?" means nice to meet you and let's talk and I heard they have a new flavor that tastes like spring.</p>
            </blockquote>





	younger now (than we were before)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [BobbiMorsed](https://archiveofourown.org/users/BobbiMorsed/gifts), [Kirstein_and_Arlert](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kirstein_and_Arlert/gifts).



> My contribution to Bobbi Morse Appreciation Week! Also just because I love these two so much.
> 
> Title from Never Say Never by The Fray

"Coffee?" means _nice to meet you_ and _let's talk_ and _I heard they have a new flavor that tastes like spring_.

Bobbi smiles as she clips her battle staves to her forearms. She wants to say, "I'm more a tea person," but instead she says, "Sure. On me." Their faces are still covered in grime and sweat (and a little blood). Bobbi has bruised ribs and Clint has some unattractive scratches crossing on the inside of his left arm, but those can wait. After escaping the clutches of death so narrowly, anything can wait. So even though they can feel the gazes settling on them as they pick up their lattes, they sit across from each other in a booth and strike up a conversation.

And frankly, neither of them care about the big, stupid smiles on their faces even after they fall into their own beds.

* * *

 

"Marry me?" means _your smile is beautiful_ and _I love you_ and _please don't die without me_.

It may be a little premature, considering that they've only known each other for a week. It feels like ages, though, which may be partly due to the fact that those seven days were spent foiling evil supervillain-y plans. Their daring strategy didn't get them killed, which they both appreciate greatly.

Bobbi is still reeling from the adrenaline pumping through her veins, but she knows she wants this - her and Clint, together - from the very bottom of her heart.

* * *

 

"Breathe," means _I'm here_ and _everything will be alright_ and _it was only a dream_.

Sometime Bobbi reads Clint poetry while he blinks away the dreams. Her husky tone pierces the air and cuts straight to his soul like a knife. Words flow off her tongue and the crescendo and decrescendo of her voice reminds him of the waves lapping the shores just outside the window. On rare occasions, she'll read him her own poetry and he listens while knowing that he'll never get tired of the passion infused in the way she reads, or the loquacious words assembled in a perfect rhythm that he could never write, because circus boys aren't taught to write snippets of stories in meter (or how to even understand meter, to be honest). Even after his heartbeat evens out and he can close his eyes without images burning the insides of his eyelids, she keeps reading.

It's not until a couple of years later that she gets nightmares too.

* * *

 

"Stop lying," means _what happened to our trust_ and _this is only going to cause pain_ and _we had something but you're breaking it_.

Clint's heart is in his throat - no, it's out there in the open, exposed and vulnerable, and Bobbi is shattering it into pieces. Maybe he should ask why, but it hurts so much that he can't do much other than clench his fists and yell. She yells back, many decibels louder than him, and that's just so Bobbi that he wants to hold her (he's still head over heels for her, God save him). He doesn't know who stomps out of the room first. His memory only consists of slivers between white static.

What he does know is that the silence feels like it's going to snap him in two.

* * *

 

"Is it really you?" means _I thought you were dead_ and _I'm so glad that you're not_ and _I don't know why you're stepping off an alien spaceship but it's the best thing that's ever happened to me_.

Bobbi holds her breath as the door of the spacecraft slides open. The feeling of earth underneath her feet makes her knees want to give out, but those thoughts fly out the window as soon as she sees him. It's Clint with a split lip and some god-awful costume, but it's _Clint_ , not a Skrull, and suddenly she feels numb throughout her body. She steps forward with cautious feet, but when she's meters apart everything becomes too overwhelming.

He closes the distance for her and the kiss is rougher and sweeter than she ever remembered it to be.

* * *

 

"Coffee?" means _let's try it one more time_.


End file.
